Severe dengue in travellers: pathogenesis, risk and clinical management

Dengue is a frequent cause of febrile illness among travellers and has overtaken malaria as the leading cause of febrile illness for those traveling to Southeast Asia. The purpose is to review the risk of dengue and severe dengue in travellers with a particular focus on the pathogenesis and clinical management of severe dengue.

The risk of travel-acquired dengue depends on destination, season and duration of travel and activities during travel. Seroconversion rates reported in travellers, therefore, vary between <1% and >20%. The most common life-threatening clinical response to dengue infection is the dengue vascular permeability syndrome, epidemiologically linked to secondary infection, but can also occur in primary infection. Tertiary and quaternary infections are usually associated with mild or no disease. Antibody-dependent enhancement, viral factors, age, host factors and clinical experience of the managing physician modulate the risk of progressing to severe dengue. The relative risk of severe dengue in secondary versus primary infection ranges from 2 to 7. The absolute risk of severe dengue in children in highly endemic areas is ~0.1% per year for primary infections and 0.4% for secondary infections. About 2-4% of secondary infections lead to severe dengue. Severe dengue and death are both relatively rare in general travellers but more frequently in those visiting friends and relatives. Clinical management of severe dengue depends on judicious use of fluid rehydration.

Although dengue is a frequent cause of travel illness, severe dengue and deaths are rare. Nevertheless, dengue infections can interrupt travel and lead to evacuation and major out-of-pocket costs. Dengue is more frequent than many other travel-related vaccine preventable diseases, such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever, indicating a need for a dengue vaccine for travellers.